Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Thinking About Running For President...Of Europe

The ex-Governor of California is unable to run for President in the U.S., because he was born in Austria. But the position of EU President will soon be available, as current president Herman Van Rompuy's term expires on May 31, 2012.

Former right hand man Terry Tamminen believes Schwarzenegger would make an appealing candidate, because he could become the new "Washington or Jefferson" of Europe.

Terry Tamminen, who headed California's Environmental Protection Agency before serving as Schwarzenegger's cabinet secretary, has told him that he should be president of a newly reconstituted European Union.

"In the next few years, the EU will be looking for a much more high-profile president—somebody who can unify Europe," Tamminen says. "The French won't want a German, and the Germans won't want an Italian. How about a European-born person who went off to America and … could return to be the Washington or Jefferson of a new unified Europe?"

Van Rompuy may run again, but there appear to be no rules barring Schwarzenegger from running, even though he is an American citizen.